Points of View

The biographer presents the reader with mostly Oscar Wilde's point of view. When he expounds on others' points of view, he does so in the context of Wilde's life. One of the more important points of view is that of society, both in Europe and America. Oscar Wilde consists of two people, his public persona and his personal character. Society sees mostly the public persona, while his close friends know the person better.

Setting

The physical settings in this biography are less important than the settings in Oscar Wilde's mind. He projects his imagination onto reality, turning the ugly beautiful and the beautiful mundane, or more beautiful, depending on his mood. Wilde controls his reality with his imagination, so far as this can go. In Ireland, he makes himself into a strong academic. At Oxford, he molds himself to be more English than the English. In...